Leaving Chicago with our 2003 Dutch Star towing our 2010 Jeep 4 door, we are amazed as always that it all moves so easily down the road. Our first stop is the home & farm of our good friends Candy and Dick Prien for Monroe, Wisconsin Cheese Days. Their home and land is truly a work of art, as everywhere you look, you see a new sculpture or clever inovation. Dick & Candy bought their property 3 years ago and have done amazing things to enhance it. The barn itself is large enough to house a family of 10 or 20.
Cheese Days entertained us and other friends from Chicago. We feasted on great food, sampled many kinds of cheese, enjoyed the craft tent and downed just a few beverages. Our RV as well as other tents and trailer easily fit on the farm. Our doggie walks were always delightful as we ventured to the far corners of the farm. Thanks Dick & Candy for hosting all of us!!
Moving west with a night spent in a Walmart in Lincoln Nebraska, we arrived in Denver to visit our son Mike and Brian. They moved last summer from Ft. Lauderdale and returned to Brian's home town of Denver. They had settled into their new apartment with their new Great Dane puppy, named Ceiba. She is about 40 pounds already and only 4 months old. She immediately loved her new grandparentns and showed us her tricks.
Fall colors in the mountains was our first daytrip. Unfortunately it decided to rain that day but the drive and the colors were spectacular. The aspens glow in their golden yellow. We skipped the long hikes in favor of quick walks in the rain. Our RV park is in Golden just west of the city. Golden is a historic town that brews Cours beer. We remember the year of hauling back cases of Cours when it was only available West of the Mississippi! What a chore! Now Golden is a historic town, with shops and restaurants and Lookout Mountain where Buffalo Bill was buried. Other features of the area include Red Rocks Amphitheater, site of many concerts. Since we told Mike & Brian, that we'd like to see a concert there, they took us to "Futher Fest", a concert of the artists left from the Grateful Dead. Tailgating was the best! The scene was entertaining - from old buses redecorated, tie-dyed shirts and dresses (I threw them away long ago), long skirts, dread locks, and many people selling many assorted items from beverages to jewelry to coasters, to food, etc. The concert was incredible in the setting of the mountains. Red Rocks is known to have the best accoustics in the country. A natural amphitheater. It was a beautiful evening and we joined friends Jonathan and Julie,(transplants from Tinley Park). A great evening!! The Denver Art Museum contained ourstanding modern art. Its always fun and amazing to see how modern art changes. The design of the complex of museums was creative and geometric. Very cool! We enjoyed visits with Brian's family that we have not seen since Costa Rica. We had a great time reminiscing about our incredible trip there. Keegan and Isabella are growing up so quickly. Our final day was spent in Rocky Mountain Natl Park outside of Estes Park. It was a beautiful day to hike and view more fall colors. We were greeted at our first stop with a bull elk sporting a huge rack. More elk were seen later in the day as they gathered in the meadow. The aspens glowed in the sunshine. We took the " "dirt road to the site of a 20.000 year old volcano. The crater was huge and could be seen for miles. Its hard to imagine what it must have been like when it blew. Enjoying Rocky Mtn NP, makes one want to sing "Rocky Mtn High" alla John Denver. He knew of what he sang!! Tough to leave the boys but they will join us on the way back somewhere in New Mexico.
Our next stop was Salt Lake City, Utah home of my brother John and his wife Cindy. What a beautiful city!! It is the home of the Great Salt Lake, beautiful mountains for skiing, and the Mormon Church. Cindy and John are developing Cindy's skill in Hand and finger print anaylsis as well as Reconnection therapy. Our visit included learning and experiencing more of their services. We also toured the ski areas and walked amid the beautiful fall colors. THe leaves were brilliant. John took us to Park City to see the new construction and beautiful mountains surrounding it. John cooked us a gourmet meal which we all enjoyed. Thank you for the great visit guys. As they said " Not many of our family visit west of the Mississippi" .
From Salt Lake, we made a quick drive to Anacortes, Washington. We drove thru some incredible scenery in Idaho and Oregon before hitting Washington. Our RV found its challenges in the many hill and valley of these states.
Our campground in Anacortes was situated on Fidalgo Bay. How beautiful a setting! We enjoyed the area of Anacortes with its beautiful coastline (lots of places to kayak) and its beautiful parks, Washington Park and Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island. The hiking trails are fantastic and the weather beautiful!! We left the RV and headed by ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island. Travelling by jeep, we headed north on Vancouver Island thru Nanaimo to our destination of Tofino. There we stayed at the "Bird & Breakfast" B & B with our delightful host, George. The town is at the end of the road and on the Pacific Ocean. It is the surfing capital of the Northwest and the huge waves and surfers were great to witness. George said we were in luck, he could get us a spot on a pelagic boat trip in the Pacific. We were sure we would stay along the coast and look at birds. Instead we found ourselves in the Pacific Ocean in a 29 foot Boston Whaler with 7 other people travelling out 40 miles to a canyon in the ocean where pelagic birds hung out!! We should have known it would be wild when we were issued orange survival suits that rivalled the astronauts. We took over 3 hours to reach our destination and then travelled along the canyon edge, looking at albatross, mures,tufted puffins, pidgeon gallimot, and other pelagic birds. It's incredible how birds can live that far out in the ocean using land only to nest. The swells were large, it looked like a wall of water in front of us and the whaler just plowed over the top and skiied down the slope of every one. What a trip of a lifetime!! On the trip we met the owner of Sobo, the gourmet restaurant of Tofino. We enjoyed a couple of meals at this great eatery.
Our drive back from Tofino yielded several black bears wandering the road, fattening up for the winter, as well as stops in Ucluelet, a cool town on the ocean. We visited a fish hatchery where the salmon were spawning in the river. The black bears came out of the woods to eat the salmon. The Wild Pacific Trail was another stop on the route. Beautiful trails ran along the ocean with the rainforest as our cover. The lighthouse and the waves made us realize why people come there to storm or whale watch. We overnighted in Nanaimo where we explored the waterfront. Our ferry took us back to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver, BC. The Washington State Ferrys are huge and great to take as they carry cars, trucks, etc. Our drive back to Anacortes took us thru Bellingham and down Route 27 for some of the best oysters and chantrelle mushrooms. Other day trips from Anacortes were to Seattle to visit Pike's market and enjoy more seafood and a trip to the Boeing Plant to see how huge jumbo jets are assembled. We loved Washington!!
Our annual fall trip started on September 24th.
